A building in Wiota that has served many different functions over the past several decades, was damaged by fire late Tuesday night. Firefighters from Wiota, Anita, Atlantic and Cumberland responded to the reported blaze at the Wiota Steakhouse at 302 Center Street, shortly after 11:20-p.m.

Wiota Steakhouse Fire (Ric Hanson/photos)

Wiota Fire Chief Cody Will spoke with KJAN News at around 12:45-a.m. Wednesday, not long after crews had knocked down the flames and were beginning mop-up duties.

(Will said when the first crews arrived, the kitchen was fully engulfed in flames and exiting the rear and the roof of the building and spread to the attic area, where crews were able to stop the spread of the fire. Most of the damage was contained to the kitchen area.)

Firefighters were on the scene for the next hour or so making sure the hot spots were put out. Will said they were attacking the attic area most of the night and it was too early to determine the cause of the fire.  He said later that the fire apparently began with a hot water heater exhaust behind a cabinet that burned through the wood floor. Will said water coming out of the heater was scalding hot even after they tried to cool it down with a hose. An investigator with the State Fire Marshal’s Office was scheduled to examine the scene sometime today (Wednesday).

The owner of the steakhouse, Barb Mitchell, was understandably upset, according to the Chief.

The restaurant had been scheduled to open later in the day.

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Firefighters from Anita and Wiota were called to the scene of a reported fire in Wiota Tuesday night. The Cass County Communications Center said a large fire was reported on the back side of the Wiota Steakhouse at 302 Center Street, at around 11:20-p.m.  A grass unit from the Cumberland Fire Department was also called to assist at the scene.

Additional details are currently not available.

PERU, Neb. (AP) — Authorities in southeast Nebraska are trying to identify the body of a man found on the bank of the Missouri River. The Nemaha County Sheriff’s Office says people fishing by the river north of Peru found the body Sunday. It’s unclear how long the body was in the water.

Sheriff Brent Lottman says deputies have contacted authorities in surrounding communities along Nebraska and Iowa to help identify the man. He declined to release additional information. The Lincoln Journal Star reports an autopsy has been ordered on the body, which was found two miles north of the Peru boat dock.

Members of the Harlan Community High School and Junior High Bands will be performing this (Tuesday) evening, for Veterans in Omaha. The Veterans with an organization called Heartland Honor Flights will be taking a trip to Washington D.C. Wednesday and this evening the band will play as part of the pre-flight dinner for the Veterans. Harlan Community Band Instructor Chaz Neuvirth says the kids are very excited to perform.

“It’s going to be about 300 Veterans at the Ramada Inn Convention Center in Omaha. They have a lot of festivities going on with dinner and entertainment. They called us because we have a good number of local Veterans going to be there and they recommended the Harlan Cyclone band to perform.”

The band is coming off state and all-state contest so they have only been able to practice three times prior to the event this evening. He says the reason the junior high band members were invited was because of a choir concert tonight in Harlan. “So I didn’t want to take any students away from the choir concert so I invited the junior high band as well. We have about 70 kids going tonight between high school and junior high.”

The performance tonight in Omaha comes on the heels of a successful state concert where the band received a 1 rating and all-state contest. “Choir had twelve students try out and had seven make it. They have been working since the summer on the tunes they need to do and working hard each morning. We had five students try out in band and Jacob Lemons made it on the sax. He has been working on that for a few years and he did a great job this past weekend. He will experience the All-State festival which is November 21^st through the 23^rd.”

(Joel McCall/KNOD)